Carlos Alcaraz just cost himself a fortune by skipping the 2025 Shanghai Masters – and it’s all because he’s trying to protect his body.
The Spanish star pulled out of the tournament that started Wednesday, dealing with a physical issue that flared up during his recent Japan Open win. He didn’t want to risk making things worse.
Alcaraz beat Taylor Fritz 6-4, 6-4 to claim the Japan Open title, though he wasn’t too happy with the officials during that final.
| Name | Age | Points | Stats 2024 |
|---|---|---|---|
| Carlos Alcaraz | 22 | 68,791 | 25 - 5 |
He got pretty heated when the umpire slapped him with a time violation in the fourth game. Alcaraz actually accused the official of never having played tennis in his life.
Now here’s where things get expensive for the 22-year-old.
By withdrawing from Shanghai, Alcaraz has now skipped three mandatory Masters 1000 tournaments this year – the Madrid Open, Canadian Open, and Shanghai Masters.
The ATP has these bonus pools for the big tournaments, and missing too many events comes with a serious financial penalty. Alcaraz will lose 75% of his Masters 1000 bonus money because of those three withdrawals.
That’s a massive hit to the wallet.
He’s still sitting pretty at the top of the Masters 1000 bonus pool standings after winning Monte-Carlo, the Italian Open, and Cincinnati. The top spot normally pays out $3.8 million – if you play enough tournaments.
Instead, Alcaraz is looking at losing three-quarters of that payday.
Jannik Sinner would need to win both Shanghai and Paris, plus rack up serious points at the ATP Finals, to catch Alcaraz in the standings. That’s a pretty tall order, even for the world’s current top player.
Sinner’s situation is even worse
Actually, Sinner’s got it worse than Alcaraz when it comes to bonus money.
The Italian has already lost his entire bonus pool amount – 100% of it – regardless of how well he plays the rest of the year.
Sinner missed Indian Wells, Miami, and Madrid because of his three-month suspension related to that controversial doping case. Then he chose to skip the Canadian Open too.
Missing four Masters 1000 events wipes out your bonus completely. Those are the rules.
The World Anti-Doping Agency handed down that suspension to finally close the book on Sinner’s doping case, which caused a huge stir in the tennis world.
Sinner raised eyebrows again recently by rehiring fitness coach Umberto Ferrara – one of the key figures involved in his positive test for a banned substance. Some people think that move was pretty disrespectful to the whole process.
Both players have dominated men’s tennis since early 2024, and they’ve faced off in the last three Grand Slam finals. The sport is just better when both Alcaraz and Sinner are competing.
You can’t really blame Alcaraz for putting his health first, even with millions on the line. At 22, he’s already won six Grand Slams and has plenty of time to make up the money.
The smart play is probably protecting that body for the long haul.
